The moral case for equal opportunity in society and the workplace is a given. The business case for organisations creating and maintaining gender diverse workforces at all levels is resoundingly clear. Reports by leading research organisations (like McKinsey (Women Matter), Catalyst, and The Reibey Institute) demonstrate consistently that businesses with gender diversity in their management and executive ranks outperform their competitors on a range of financial and other indicators.

In an era of low-unemployment and constrained resources, businesses compete strongly to attract and retain talented people. Businesses have been making structural and cultural changes and investing in gender diversity initiatives and related programs in order to increase the number of women participating in management and executive roles.

Recent years have seen considerable and concerted effort by businesses and peak and regulatory bodies like The Diversity Council of Australia (DCA), the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Chief Executive Women (CEW), and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

This work and investment has seen an increase in gender diversity at most levels in organisations. For example, since the figures in the diagram opposite were published, the AICD have reported that 14% of ASX 200 Directors are women. From our work with some of Australia’s leading businesses, it has become clear that new paradigms and tools are required to maintain this growth curve successfully.